If something is going to happen to a person it will happen to me. I think I attract strange people and accidents. Or accidents and strange people...I don't know what the order is...
Strange people -- I think I must have a look about me that says, "Hey...you should come tell me some random stuff that I really don't care about." This often happens to me in the bathroom of public places. Really? Who wants to talk to a stranger in the bathroom?????
Or, I have kids in my class that like to talk to me about random stuff...
Today's conversation:
Kiddo: (who is reading a book about diseases - what kid does that?) "Mrs. Lackey, I found a disease that can't be cured."
Me: "Really? What is it?"
Kiddo: He shows me his book. "It's like two diseases in one. HIV and Aids. There isn't a cure for it."
Me: "You're right. There is no cure."
Kiddo: "Have you ever had it before Mrs. Lackey?"
Me: "Uh...nope. That's not curable. I'm not sick and I'm still here."
Kiddo: "Oh. Okay." And then he walks back to his seat.
Accidents - We all know about the dog pee accident I had in May. Since May, I have been accident free until yesterday. As I was walking down the hall, a kid flicked a magnet right in my path just as I was taking a step. I stepped right on that dang magnet and it caused me to kind of twist my ankle and I FELL DOWN. In front of ALL THE KIDS! I was embarrassed and mad all at the same time. I was ready to explode, but it was truly an accident. When I fell down, I landed on my left knee. The left knee that is connected to the left ankle/foot that spent the summer in a nice hot black orthopedic boot. It hurt like CRAP!
Some of the kids that were with me could obviously tell I was upset. One of them said, "Mrs. Lackey, you sure are pretty." I said, "Thank you. Did I look pretty when I fell down?" She just grinned at me. Another kiddo said, "I sure do like your hair. How do you get it all spikey in the back?" I told her with "lots of hair junk". She seemed to like that answer. Funny how kids try to fix a situation sometimes and they don't realize they even do it.
Well, my knee still hurts. As the day went on today, my body slowly but surely got a little more sore than it was this morning. My lower back and legs have ached like I worked out. (I guess that's what a fall will do for you.) My ankle and foot have hurt today as well. I'm wondering if I did something to it when I fell. I guess I'll just have to keep my eye on it over the next few days.
This morning the kiddo that was playing with the infamous "make Mrs. Lackey fall" magnet, sent me a note asking me to forgive him for what happened. I wrote him back and told him I truly knew it was an accident and I was in no way upset with him. I also told him that I was just embarrassed about falling. That is not something I like to do often. When I took him the note, I asked his teachers which room he was in so I could give it to him. As I turned around and saw him, his face had a "deer in headlights" look. He obviously didn't know what to think about me coming to his classroom looking for him. I hope my note to him made him feel better just as his made me feel better.
I am positive that I will continue to run into "bathroom talkers", crazy kids at school (they make my day) and will continue to find the accident waiting to happen. My life wouldn't be quite right if these things weren't a part of it. I think it'd be pretty boring. Don't you? :)
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
Monday, November 7, 2011
This girl...
Ally has always been "my" girl. She really hasn't been a Daddy's girl too much in her 12 years. She's always been a Momma's girl. I kinda like it that way. :)
When I say she is a mini-me, I mean that. From the time that she was really little, she always seemed to have the same interests as me and always wanted to do what I was doing. To some extent, she even wanted to eat the same stuff as me. She and I have several similarities, the most obvious of those being her creative side. This kid likes to create stuff. Not just any kind of "stuff", but artistic "stuff". When she was little, I would give her scrappy supplies to use while I was scrapping. It was funny how often she would watch me to decide what it was that she was going to do. Even now, she does this. She truly has a creative soul. I kinda like that. It's pretty cool to see some of the things that she comes up with. (You should see what she does with duct tape!)
One way that we are complete opposites is when it comes to reading. As a kid, I couldn't read enough. I would hide under my covers to read, and after getting caught doing that several times, I found a better place...in my closet with the light on and the door closed. I could stay up all night reading a book. Still can. I can finish a thick book in a matter of just a few days. I LOVE to read. Allison, not so much. If you asked her, she'd say, "I HATE reading." Well, that makes me kinda sad. I get such enjoyment from reading. I wish that she did. Maybe one of these days she will learn to appreciate it and not think of it as "work". I'll keep trying.
Tonight I had the pleasure of spending some time with my big girl. After her swim practice it was just me and her because Whit and Daddy had an end of season soccer party to attend. So, Ally and I enjoyed eating dinner together. We had been on her case for the past month about her grades and attitude. Both have needed improving. (Does this happen with all 12 year olds???) I really wanted to spend some time with her, and I needed to let her know that all her hard work over the past 2 weeks to get her grades back up hadn't gone unnoticed. It was past time to let her know we were proud of the hard work she had been doing. I think she really enjoyed herself. It was nice to spend some time with her by myself.
For my big girl, I wish this:
*to continue to work hard and strive to always do your absolute best
*to have a heart for others - a tender place that lets others know that you are a person they can trust and depend on
*to continue to work on appreciating your sister (I know sibling rivalry is "normal", but my wish is that you'll see Whit as your best friend and confidant at some point in the future.)
*to continue to learn about God and share him through your words and actions with others
Ally, I love you more than you could even imagine. I hope that when you see this, you'll see that you are a very important part of my life and our family. You are an amazing young lady. DO NOT ever forget that! I love you!!!
Thursday, October 27, 2011
A Chicken story...Dishonest People SUCK!
You know the old saying "Don't count your chickens before they hatch"? Good idea to heed that warning... Well, it's a good idea to keep them separated too. Just sayin...
Yesterday (Wednesday) was stressful. It didn't start off that way though. It actually started off pretty good...until I checked my bank account around 7:00 a.m. I am SO GLAD that I didn't follow my normal routine this one time. God certainly spoke to me because I can't explain why I chose to get on the computer and look at my account. Glad he talked to me though...
Around 7:00 yesterday morning, I looked at my bank account to find out that all my money was g...o...n...e... What the heck??? I had just been paid a couple days earlier and we don't normally even use that account other than to pay bills with my check. I knew we hadn't used that money. Bills hadn't been paid yet.
After "investigating" the charges, it quickly became clear that somebody had hacked into my account and had themselves a party. They did a balance inquiry in my savings account to see what was there, and transferred it to my checking account. With four swipes of a "clone card" (neither of us had lost our cards) our money was gone by the end of the day Monday. HOLY CRAP!!!
I called the 1-800 number on the back of my card to report my findings. Victor, the guy that helped me was very nice. He said the charges originated out of Atlanta, GA. He was very helpful getting the charges disputed and let me know that their would be a "provisional" credit to my account in 1-10 business days. It has to be investigated first. He faxed the papers that needed to be filled out and signed to my bank. I left school to get them signed so they could be notarized and faxed back immediately. That wasn't as easy as it sounds though.
Since the fraud happened using Mike's card, he was the one that had to fill out the paperwork and and sign it. I had to drive all the way across town to his work to get the papers taken care of. Then, back to the bank. This whole process took about 45 minutes. Once I got back, it was time to fax it. Just my luck, the fax was having trouble connecting. So, I sat and talked with Mike's cousin Amy, who works at the bank. (She was doing the faxing for me.) It was nice to chat with her. :) Finally, the papers went through. YIPPEE!!!!!
Now, it's just time to sit and wait...and hope they catch the guy (or girl) that did this. Crossing my fingers that the investigation the bank does turns up some information that lets them prosecute the freakin' thieves...
So, are you wondering about the chicken comment I made at the beginning of this blog post? Well, it's the first thing I thought of after this happened. You can NEVER count on things (or chickens) to always be there. Kinda like my money. I knew it was there, but look what happened. And, one thing I have learned from this is that it is ALWAYS a good idea to NOT keep all your money (or your chickens) in just one place. Lesson learned...
To the creep(s) that violated me and my family I just have one thing to say to you...
May the fleas of 1000 camels infest your crotch and may your arms be too short to scratch...
To everybody else, I hope you have a good weekend. I know we will. :)
Yesterday (Wednesday) was stressful. It didn't start off that way though. It actually started off pretty good...until I checked my bank account around 7:00 a.m. I am SO GLAD that I didn't follow my normal routine this one time. God certainly spoke to me because I can't explain why I chose to get on the computer and look at my account. Glad he talked to me though...
Around 7:00 yesterday morning, I looked at my bank account to find out that all my money was g...o...n...e... What the heck??? I had just been paid a couple days earlier and we don't normally even use that account other than to pay bills with my check. I knew we hadn't used that money. Bills hadn't been paid yet.
After "investigating" the charges, it quickly became clear that somebody had hacked into my account and had themselves a party. They did a balance inquiry in my savings account to see what was there, and transferred it to my checking account. With four swipes of a "clone card" (neither of us had lost our cards) our money was gone by the end of the day Monday. HOLY CRAP!!!
I called the 1-800 number on the back of my card to report my findings. Victor, the guy that helped me was very nice. He said the charges originated out of Atlanta, GA. He was very helpful getting the charges disputed and let me know that their would be a "provisional" credit to my account in 1-10 business days. It has to be investigated first. He faxed the papers that needed to be filled out and signed to my bank. I left school to get them signed so they could be notarized and faxed back immediately. That wasn't as easy as it sounds though.
Since the fraud happened using Mike's card, he was the one that had to fill out the paperwork and and sign it. I had to drive all the way across town to his work to get the papers taken care of. Then, back to the bank. This whole process took about 45 minutes. Once I got back, it was time to fax it. Just my luck, the fax was having trouble connecting. So, I sat and talked with Mike's cousin Amy, who works at the bank. (She was doing the faxing for me.) It was nice to chat with her. :) Finally, the papers went through. YIPPEE!!!!!
Now, it's just time to sit and wait...and hope they catch the guy (or girl) that did this. Crossing my fingers that the investigation the bank does turns up some information that lets them prosecute the freakin' thieves...
So, are you wondering about the chicken comment I made at the beginning of this blog post? Well, it's the first thing I thought of after this happened. You can NEVER count on things (or chickens) to always be there. Kinda like my money. I knew it was there, but look what happened. And, one thing I have learned from this is that it is ALWAYS a good idea to NOT keep all your money (or your chickens) in just one place. Lesson learned...
To the creep(s) that violated me and my family I just have one thing to say to you...
May the fleas of 1000 camels infest your crotch and may your arms be too short to scratch...
To everybody else, I hope you have a good weekend. I know we will. :)
Sunday, September 25, 2011
Word of the Week... INSPIRED...
Each week when I go to work I know that I have lots of hats to wear. I don't want to get into how I have to be the kids' mom, nurse, counselor, etc. I just want to talk to you about the teacher part. Sort of....
Each week I give my kiddos a vocabulary list. It typically goes with the story of the week. This past week we read the story "Weslandia". It is about a boy named Wesley that is a bit of an outcast in his town and school. He invents his own civilization and calls it Weslandia. It's a pretty fun story that teaches the kids to respect each other's differences and to really be creative in their thinking. One of the vocabulary words was INSPIRED. I told the kids that I absolutely love that word. It is a powerful word that basically means motivated by something or somebody else to do something GOOD.
While trying to help the kids understand the meaning of the word, I kept giving them examples of things that inspire me - art, colors, writing, people, etc. I also tried to explain what I do when I am inspired by one of the things I told them about. It is a hard word to really truly understand. You have to feel it in your soul when you are truly inspired. It is something that pushes you from the inside. It is an amazing feeling. And it got me to thinking...Who inspires me right now?
This is my Aunt Peggy. She has been inspiring me lately. She is a teacher that absolutely LOVES what she does and has a "pay it forward" attitude that I want to adopt. See the pretty pink splint on her arm? She recently began wearing that splint after spending nearly 7 weeks in a cast as a result of a bicycle accident that severely injured her wrist and arm. Well, it should be the reason for her to be down in the dumps and crabby. Now, I know that she gets down. I know that she gets frustrated. That's human nature. But, she doesn't let that emotion take over. She has an amazing way of getting past the "stuff" that brings us down and get to the "stuff" that makes us see the bright side of life.
In addition to writing about her injury and the progress she is making in her recovery, she also writes about her Bucket List on her blog. Through her I have learned that I need to be grateful for each day and to live life to the fullest. Don't take the "little things" in life for granted. I need to take advantage of the opportunities that are presented to me. It's all about perspective. My prayer for her is that she continues to heal and gain use of her arm and wrist again and that she continues to live her life to the fullest. I also pray that she continues to inspire others, at school, through her blog, and in her life in general.
Aunt Peggy, you inspire me and remind me each time I read your blog just how lucky I am to have you as an inspiration in my life. Not only are you good school teacher, but you are also a great life teacher. I thank you and love you bunches!
Each week I give my kiddos a vocabulary list. It typically goes with the story of the week. This past week we read the story "Weslandia". It is about a boy named Wesley that is a bit of an outcast in his town and school. He invents his own civilization and calls it Weslandia. It's a pretty fun story that teaches the kids to respect each other's differences and to really be creative in their thinking. One of the vocabulary words was INSPIRED. I told the kids that I absolutely love that word. It is a powerful word that basically means motivated by something or somebody else to do something GOOD.
While trying to help the kids understand the meaning of the word, I kept giving them examples of things that inspire me - art, colors, writing, people, etc. I also tried to explain what I do when I am inspired by one of the things I told them about. It is a hard word to really truly understand. You have to feel it in your soul when you are truly inspired. It is something that pushes you from the inside. It is an amazing feeling. And it got me to thinking...Who inspires me right now?
In addition to writing about her injury and the progress she is making in her recovery, she also writes about her Bucket List on her blog. Through her I have learned that I need to be grateful for each day and to live life to the fullest. Don't take the "little things" in life for granted. I need to take advantage of the opportunities that are presented to me. It's all about perspective. My prayer for her is that she continues to heal and gain use of her arm and wrist again and that she continues to live her life to the fullest. I also pray that she continues to inspire others, at school, through her blog, and in her life in general.
Aunt Peggy, you inspire me and remind me each time I read your blog just how lucky I am to have you as an inspiration in my life. Not only are you good school teacher, but you are also a great life teacher. I thank you and love you bunches!
Thursday, September 8, 2011
What dog pee will cost you...
It has been approximately 4 months since I slipped in dog pee and hurt my ankle. (That still cracks me up... It could only happen to me... If you haven't heard the story, check it out. It's titled Stoking the Fire or Getting the Boot. It's quite amusing...)
Since I learned my falling trick I have been back and forth to the foot doc. I spent the majority of my summer wearing the ortho boot. It was quite miserable in 100 degree heat and not exactly the most comfortable thing to wear. On July 26th, I got the wonderful news that I didn't have to wear it any longer, but since it still wasn't completely healed, I needed to get an MRI to see if there was damage that was a little more severe than originally thought. There wasn't... So, off to do some physical therapy to strengthen my foot and ankle.
This has been the most interesting of journeys. Physical therapy actually wasn't completely bad. Sort of... The therapists decided that I was a prime candidate for dry needling. Basically, they use acupuncture type needles in the areas of my muscle (that is connected to the injured tendon) to relieve some of my pressure points to help with the pain. I had NO IDEA that the muscle connected to my injured tendon was so tender, but it really was. Dry needling is the WEIRDEST thing I have ever had done medically. The therapist, David, finds the pressure point and works the needle up and down in one spot in my muscle. Like he sticks the needle in and moves it up and down without taking it out. One side effect of this is that my muscles twitch involuntarily - kinda like when you go to the chiropractor and they use those electrodes on your muscles. Not only do your muscles twitch, but they kinda burn too. Weird thing about it is that it works. It makes my muscle WAY LESS tense and tender. That was cool.
I also did something called Graston. They rub a cream on your affected area and use metal tools to basically give you a deep tissue massage. It is supposed to help the fibers in your muscles realign themselves so that the pressure points don't form. Neat idea. Hurts like HELL when they do it and for at least a day or two afterwards. The last time they did it I ended up with a few bruises. Looked like I had been in a fight.
After the dry needling and Graston, I had gym time. As out of shape as I am, I still enjoy working out once I get started. I think I kinda surprised a couple of them with how strong this big girl is. I did some weight lifting and they very quickly realized that this big girl needed bigger weights. Sister don't play. (haha! I have always had super strong legs. Still do even though I haven't worked them out like I should in a long time.) In addition to the weight lifting, I did some lunges, squats, balancing exercises, toe lifts, calf stretches, etc. You get the picture.
I worked on this from August 10 until August 31. I went twice a week and honestly saw improvement. At my Aug. 31 reevaluation appointment, my therapist saw a big improvement with my pain. I could tell it was working too. Not 100% yet, but getting there. Yay!!!
On Sept. 1st, my insurance deductible started over at $0. (School insurance kinda follows the school calender.) Yesterday was my first PT appointment since it started over. I already knew going into it that I was responsible for 100% of the charges up to $750. I also knew that they wanted me to continue coming twice a week for the next 3 weeks. We all felt that would be best. EVEN ME... Well, long story short, I asked when I got to PT what my charges would be for the day. All I was going to do was exercise in the gym with a therapist assistant telling what my next "thing" would be. After looking at the fee schedule the receptionist informs me that each session will only be $260. WHAT!!!! My response was, "Are you talking about for all of them or just one." Her reply was "Just one." HOLY COW!!! I quickly informed her that wouldn't work. Not even one time. She was really nice about it. We decided to just e-mail the therapist and have her put together a home plan for me to follow. Made complete sense to me. Everything I had been doing in the gym, with the exception of about 2-3 exercises were things I could do at home. I haven't heard back what my home plan will be. Hopefully tomorrow or Monday I'll have an answer.
So, I am writing this all to say, that while I have a great funny story on how I learned a new trick with dog pee, I did learn a lot about insurance. I pay a lot for it each month and it absolutely STINKS!!! It doesn't cover a whole heck of a lot. It's really a shame... I can say this though. I am still improving. While I'm frustrated that I kinda have a setback on the therapy I feel pretty confident that if I can keep exercising it then it will get better. Cross your fingers peeps! (And stay away from the dog pee!)
Since I learned my falling trick I have been back and forth to the foot doc. I spent the majority of my summer wearing the ortho boot. It was quite miserable in 100 degree heat and not exactly the most comfortable thing to wear. On July 26th, I got the wonderful news that I didn't have to wear it any longer, but since it still wasn't completely healed, I needed to get an MRI to see if there was damage that was a little more severe than originally thought. There wasn't... So, off to do some physical therapy to strengthen my foot and ankle.
This has been the most interesting of journeys. Physical therapy actually wasn't completely bad. Sort of... The therapists decided that I was a prime candidate for dry needling. Basically, they use acupuncture type needles in the areas of my muscle (that is connected to the injured tendon) to relieve some of my pressure points to help with the pain. I had NO IDEA that the muscle connected to my injured tendon was so tender, but it really was. Dry needling is the WEIRDEST thing I have ever had done medically. The therapist, David, finds the pressure point and works the needle up and down in one spot in my muscle. Like he sticks the needle in and moves it up and down without taking it out. One side effect of this is that my muscles twitch involuntarily - kinda like when you go to the chiropractor and they use those electrodes on your muscles. Not only do your muscles twitch, but they kinda burn too. Weird thing about it is that it works. It makes my muscle WAY LESS tense and tender. That was cool.
I also did something called Graston. They rub a cream on your affected area and use metal tools to basically give you a deep tissue massage. It is supposed to help the fibers in your muscles realign themselves so that the pressure points don't form. Neat idea. Hurts like HELL when they do it and for at least a day or two afterwards. The last time they did it I ended up with a few bruises. Looked like I had been in a fight.
After the dry needling and Graston, I had gym time. As out of shape as I am, I still enjoy working out once I get started. I think I kinda surprised a couple of them with how strong this big girl is. I did some weight lifting and they very quickly realized that this big girl needed bigger weights. Sister don't play. (haha! I have always had super strong legs. Still do even though I haven't worked them out like I should in a long time.) In addition to the weight lifting, I did some lunges, squats, balancing exercises, toe lifts, calf stretches, etc. You get the picture.
I worked on this from August 10 until August 31. I went twice a week and honestly saw improvement. At my Aug. 31 reevaluation appointment, my therapist saw a big improvement with my pain. I could tell it was working too. Not 100% yet, but getting there. Yay!!!
On Sept. 1st, my insurance deductible started over at $0. (School insurance kinda follows the school calender.) Yesterday was my first PT appointment since it started over. I already knew going into it that I was responsible for 100% of the charges up to $750. I also knew that they wanted me to continue coming twice a week for the next 3 weeks. We all felt that would be best. EVEN ME... Well, long story short, I asked when I got to PT what my charges would be for the day. All I was going to do was exercise in the gym with a therapist assistant telling what my next "thing" would be. After looking at the fee schedule the receptionist informs me that each session will only be $260. WHAT!!!! My response was, "Are you talking about for all of them or just one." Her reply was "Just one." HOLY COW!!! I quickly informed her that wouldn't work. Not even one time. She was really nice about it. We decided to just e-mail the therapist and have her put together a home plan for me to follow. Made complete sense to me. Everything I had been doing in the gym, with the exception of about 2-3 exercises were things I could do at home. I haven't heard back what my home plan will be. Hopefully tomorrow or Monday I'll have an answer.
So, I am writing this all to say, that while I have a great funny story on how I learned a new trick with dog pee, I did learn a lot about insurance. I pay a lot for it each month and it absolutely STINKS!!! It doesn't cover a whole heck of a lot. It's really a shame... I can say this though. I am still improving. While I'm frustrated that I kinda have a setback on the therapy I feel pretty confident that if I can keep exercising it then it will get better. Cross your fingers peeps! (And stay away from the dog pee!)
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